Napoleon Update

I’ve been wanting to update everyone on Napoleon’s progress, but it’s been hard to know what to say. I think that, overall, he’s doing better… but he’s still got a long way to go. I doubt he will ever make the progress that Maisy has, if only because there is no way I have the time or energy to do that again. I wrote recently about the time and money costs that went into her training, but that doesn’t even begin to touch the emotional costs. No doubt about it, rehabbing a reactive dog is exhausting and occasionally discouraging work.

Then again, living with a reactive dog is too.

Napi has a very small world. He almost never leaves the property. We are lucky to have a relatively large privacy fenced yard, and even luckier that he actually uses it to exercise. He may not get daily walks, but I’d be willing to bet that with the amount of zooming around he does -chasing and being chased - he actually gets better cardio.

It’s sad, though. I enjoy going to the dog park with my dogs; we have a large, wooded park with great paths and huge open spaces. While dog parks definitely have their own challenges, it’s my only legal place to walk my dogs off leash, so we go. Or, we used to. We don’t go much anymore since we feel sad leaving Napi behind.

His behavior makes it hard to travel; we took the crew camping a month or so back, and Napi really struggled. He ended up getting quite a bit of trazodone as a result. It’s also hard to have people over, since he gets pretty worked up when folks first arrive. While the other dogs will calm down quickly, it takes him much longer.

WHY does this picture have to be blurry??

Still… he’s doing better. We had some friends over the other day – two adults, and two children (4 and 7) – and he was eventually able to calm down and visit with everyone. We still haven’t quite figured out the best way to introduce him to new people and dogs. Restraining him makes things worse, but he’s an absolute ass for ten minutes or so (barking and nipping and dogs, barking and humping people). This time we tried crating with a bully stick for awhile first. It worked okay.

Our biggest area of struggle is just everyday living. He will bark and growl and trot around the house when he hears noises. Unfortunately, we live in a duplex, so there are often noises from upstairs. Nothing big – sounds of footsteps, mostly – but while the other dogs have gotten used to them, he just can’t. Maisy was like this at one point too, but medication really did fix that for her. Unfortunately, Napi is like this even though he’s already on meds. My vet and I are doing some drug experimentations, but so far, I’m not thrilled with what we’ve tried.

What I really need to do is suck it up and do the relaxation protocol. To start working on exposure. Find some time to get him into another reactive dog class. There’s no reason I can’t do this, other than what I said back in the beginning – I just don’t have the energy. Still, we’ll all be a lot happier if I do this, so I guess it’s time to work up a plan.

I’ve decided to start small with one small training session a day. Since his anxiety seems pretty generalized, the relaxation protocol seems like the best place to start. I suspect we’ll get the most bang for our buck, and it really doesn’t take much brain power. It’s mostly just boring. Right now I’m working on teaching him to go to a mat. I’ll spend a few days on this, then move on to a modified version of Day 1 of the protocol. I’ll keep you guys updated as we go.

2012 Goals

What does 2012 hold in store for Maisy and I? Greatness, I’m sure of it! I have no idea what form that greatness will take, but I'm hoping it will look something like this...

1. Teach Maisy 12 tricks.
This was one of my goals last year, and I failed miserably at it. But Maisy loves to train, and anyway, we need to have something to show to friends and family members who just don’t appreciate a flashy heeling pattern.

I have a few ideas for tricks- like a bow, chin down, play dead, take it/hold it/give it with a variety of objects, spinning, leg weaves, crawling- but I would love to hear your ideas, too! Does your dog have a cool trick? Please, tell me about it in the comments.

2. Improve my heeling handling skills.
Although I took a class on heeling handling skills, I have yet to really use what I learned. Some of the moves are still difficult for me to do. It’s not that they’re awkward, exactly, it’s more that I just need to practice them so they’re second nature.

As I learn the skills, I also need to take time to integrate them with my work with Maisy. Some things don’t need to be explicitly taught to her, but others do, especially things like slow pace vs. halts. We're both going to be better at heeling this year.

3. Complete the Relaxation Protocol.
If there is anything I’m likely to fail at doing, it’s this one. I worked on the Relaxation Protocol once before, and oh my gosh, but it was mind-numbingly boring. Maisy probably doesn’t need to do the protocol, but I want to work on it for two reasons.

First, we haven’t worked on it since she started taking medication, and I want to see how that changes things. I imagine we’ll have a very different experience this time around. And second, I frequently advise students to do the protocol with their dogs, so I feel like I need to follow my own advice, you know?

4. Work on some Open and/or Utility Skills.
Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, since we haven’t even completed our novice-level obedience title, but I’d like to start working on open and/or utility exercises this year. Well, we’ve already started working on some- like retrieves, the drop on recall, and directed jumping- but we haven’t worked on others at all.

I feel like we have a pretty good handle on how to start working on most of the open/utility skills… except go outs and scent articles. I know there are a ton of different ways to train both, and I’d love to hear how you taught your dog’s go out and/or scent articles. Which method did you use? Did you like it? Would you use it again? What were the benefits and drawbacks?

5. Take (and hopefully pass!) the CPDT exam.
I’m a little nervous to post this one publicly, but here it is. I’m hoping to take the CPDT-KA exam in the fall testing period. I don’t need it, strictly speaking, but I like the idea and the added credibility it lends me. And besides, this gives me a very good excuse for going to seminars!

If you are a CPDT (or if you’re in the process of studying for it), I’d love some book recommendations. I have a pretty good handle on learning theory, but am mildly concerned about some of the other sections. Let me know which books you’ve found helpful!


Anyway… this is what I’m hoping 2012 will bring. It might not, of course. So much can change over the course of a year that it’s hard to know what to expect. Still, this is the direction I'm hoping it will go. And if it doesn't? No big deal. As long as Maisy and I have had fun together, that's all that matters.

Training Tuesday: Moving to Day Zero

In my last update, I commented that I wasn’t getting the results I wanted from the Relaxation Protocol, and as a result, wasn’t sure what to do next. Since I knew that we had an appointment with a veterinary behaviorist, I decided to hold off on the protocol until I could consult with her. We decided that I should start over with the protocol.

So I did. But I’m still not happy with how Maisy’s doing. Here’s a video of Maisy and I doing Day 1:



Although Maisy did much better this time than when we started the protocol at the end of August, she still isn’t really relaxing. In the video, you’ll notice that while she remains in a down, she’s in more of an alert down, crouched and ready for action. She maintains eye contact for the majority of the time. Her chin never touches the floor.

That said, there are a few moments where she relaxes: she shifts on to her hip at 2:45, and towards the end, her gaze isn’t as focused on me. Unfortunately, I missed those rewardable moments because I was so focused on what I was supposed to be doing (I guess I’m not so good at multi-tasking). I suppose this is the beauty of video, though; it’s really helped me see where I could do a better job with the protocol.

As a result, I’ve decided that we’re going to move back to “Day Zero.” Every night, I’ll just sit next to Maisy on her mat for 3 to 5 minutes, and reward for increased relaxation. I won’t miss things like rolling on her hip or reduced eye contact because all I will be doing is sitting there. I’ll use Dr. Duxbury’s suggestions to slow down and feed in position.

Since we do mat work like this in my reactive dog class, this should be familiar to Maisy, and I expect that she’ll assume the “flat dog” position pretty quickly. Once she can remain flat on her side for the entire time, I should be able to stretch out the amount of time between treats fairly easily.

The next step is for me to move from a sitting position to a standing one. This will completely change the picture for her- I’ve always sat next to her while doing mat work, and I’m usually on the floor, at that. In addition to increasing my rate of reinforcement, I’ll make the transition to standing a fairly gradual one: first, I’ll sit in a chair, then I’ll kneel in front of her, and then I’ll try standing.

Maisy’s medication should be kicking in by then, too, so I think that I’ll begin to see some true relaxation instead of “operant relaxation.” Speaking of medication... Maisy has taken six half-doses of her paroxetine so far. Although it is probably too early for the medication to be doing much, she does seem slightly calmer around the house. Yesterday she actually took a nap! It's possible this is a side-effect (lethargy is a common side-effect of paroxetine), but it's encouraging either way.

Small Changes Yield Big Results

She might have her chin down, but she's sure not relaxed!

I’ve known for a long time that Maisy is very sensitive to my moods. At her appointment with the veterinary behaviorist on Monday, Dr. Duxbury saw that, too. She said in her report that during the appointment, “Maisy was exquisitely responsive to [me] but most of her 'relaxed behaviors' (e.g. resting her head on floor, laying on one hip) appeared to be highly reinforced operant responses vs. truly relaxed.”

She went on to acknowledge that this is a tricky area in which to work; while you need to start somewhere, it’s easy to fall into the trap of operantly relaxed, where it’s clear that Maisy is “on” and working, and not actually relaxing. With that in mind, Dr. Duxbury made some suggestions on how I can tweak my current handling in order to promote real relaxation as the medication begins to work.

Relax
Unsurprisingly, Dr. Duxbury said that because Maisy takes so many cues from me, I need to be make sure I’m relaxed. She advised me to make a conscious effort to breathe and relax my neck and shoulders. This is much easier said than done!

Slow down
Dr. Duxbury told me that I need to slow down both my physical and verbal interactions with Maisy. She highly recommended that I don’t use a marker with Maisy because it “keeps the response very operant,” and “interrupts and… ends the behavior.” I quit using a clicker for behavior modification long ago, but I think I will reduce my use of a verbal marker, too. I will still praise Maisy occasionally, but Dr. Duxbury cautioned me thatI need to slow down and speak softly so that I’m not so exciting that it encourages Maisy to get up.

Likewise, I need to be mindful of how I deliver food rewards. She said I need to be much slower in my hand movements, because I have a tendency to be “so quick with [my] food rewards that [I] encourage quickness in her response.” A lot of my quickness has developed because I want to get the treat to Maisy while she’s still performing the behavior. Dr. Duxbury acknowledged that I’m right to be concerned about this timing, but recommended using negative punishment- that is, the removal of the food treat if Maisy tries to leave her relaxed position- to help ensure I’m rewarding the position I want.

I tried this out in my reactive dog class on Tuesday, and it worked fabulously. I put Maisy in her crate, and when she moved into a more relaxed position, such as lying her chin on the floor, I very softly said “gooooooood giiiiiiirl.” I then offered her a treat, using slow, fluid motions. Predictably, she would lift her head or even jump up. When she did, I (slowly) moved my hand away. When she put her chin down, I again moved (slowly, fluidly) to give her the treat. Initially, I allowed very small movements to get the treat, but by the end of class, Maisy was able to lie much quieter as she took the treat. Incidentally, she also rolled over flat on her side, and was possibly the most relaxed I’ve ever seen her at class- even her legs (which usually stick straight out without touching the ground) were becoming soft and loose.

Rest
Dr. Duxbury said that while it has previously been necessary for me to manage Maisy by providing her with a lot of stimulation (such as through training or playing ball), I need to be careful that this doesn’t prevent her from resting. I will need to reduce the amount of management I do, especially the number of treats I give, and I will need to start allowing her to entertain herself.

To that end, while I should continue the relaxation protocol, I need to do it both in her crate and outside of her crate/on a mat. She said these should be considered two completely separate exercises. Further, she recommended routinely encouraging Maisy to rest quietly on her mat for 20-30 minutes a day instead of trying to keep her engaged in an activity. As the medication begins to take effect, I will hopefully see Maisy shift over into actual resting instead of operant relaxation. When I see this, she advised me not to interrupt her because “rest is also its own reward, and [I] can just allow it to happen.”

Balance
Finally, I need to remain attentive to Maisy’s needs. If there is a lot going on in the environment, I may need to switch back to management temporarily. As she wrote, “it is appropriate for [me] to move her away [from the situation] and fire treats at her as rapidly as necessary to reward her for mentally staying with [me].”


I really appreciated that Dr. Duxbury took quite a bit of time during our appointment to help me practice these steps. I learn best by doing, so even though all of this is stuff I’ve been told to do before, having her coach me on how and when to give treats was very helpful.

I am very encouraged by the success we had at class this week, and so I think I’m going to start over with the relaxation protocol. Maisy’s response has been very operant, and that is not at all what I want with it. Instead of following the program so rigidly by treating at the completion of each exercise, I will try to treat only for relaxed responses. I’ll continue with the slow, fluid treat delivery, too. I’m very excited to see how this goes!

Training Tuesday

I want to play the relaxation game, Mom!

If you won't set up the crate, I'll figure out how to get in myself!

Relaxation Protocol
Maisy and I continue to work on the Relaxation Protocol. Although I haven’t been quite as consistent about it as before, we’re still doing it several times a week. Our progress has slowed down a lot, though: we’re still on Day 5. This is a hard one, especially the task where the dog remains calm while you walk to an entrance and touch the door knob. For the first three days, Maisy stood on her hind legs to peek out the top of the crate when I touched it. I celebrated mightily the day she finally remained lying down.

Despite the fact that she’s remaining lying down for the duration of the day’s protocol, she still doesn’t seem relaxed. Well, to be fair, she never really seems relaxed, but she isn’t even faking it right now, either: she’s not lying her chin on the ground, she’s not rolling onto her hip, and she’s not taking the treats gently. My big question right now is whether we should continue on the tasks of Day 5, or if we should work on an easier, earlier day for a bit… any thoughts from those experienced with the protocol?

Crate Duration
The lack of relaxation during the protocol seems to be carrying over to the crate duration exercises. While we had been making rapid progress for awhile, we’ve currently stalled out. I do want relaxed behavior, not just patience. Currently, we’re working on 15 minutes’ duration, with a treat at every three minutes, but I think I need to either cut back on the duration, or increase the treats. Or both.

Poke!
Well, Maisy definitely understands the poke behavior, but it’s coming out sideways and backwards. I should have seen that coming, I guess.

Last week, we were in the waiting room of the vet clinic when two large dogs suddenly came through the doorway. This surprise caused Maisy to lunge at them, growling and barking for a good 10 to 15 seconds. Although it’s rare that she actually goes over threshold, she did this day. Anyway, during the middle of this reactive episode, she suddenly rushed back over to me, poked me very hard, and then rushed back to bark once or twice more.

I guess that’s progress?

Treibball
The other main thing we’ve been working on for the last couple of weeks is Treibball, which is a relatively new sport in which the dog herds large balls into a goal. Since Maisy’s heritage includes a herding breed, I was excited when I learned of a way she could use her natural instincts despite my lack of livestock. Even better, I’m taking a Sunday morning class with someone interested in Treibball, too!

This week, we’ve been working on the first step: sending Maisy to a target, where she automatically lies down. It’s going well so far, and she’s figured out what I want her to do. Now I need to start adding in distance. I’d like to be able to send her to a target 10-20 feet away in the next two weeks, but I’m not sure I have that kind of space in my house.

Training Tuesday: Update on the Relaxation Protocol and Other Foundation Tasks

Malcolm continues to "help" me do the Relaxation Protocol.

Despite the boringness of this whole relaxation thing, Maisy and I continue to plug away at it. Please note, dear readers, this should not be construed necessarily as “dedication” so much as “sheer stubbornness.” At any rate, I’m pleased with the progress we’re making. We’re also working on a few other tasks, and I thought I’d take the opportunity to update on those, as well.

The Relaxation Protocol
We’re doing well with the Relaxation Protocol. Although it’s still boring, we’ve been working on it for about a month now, which means it’s becoming more of a routine and less of a chore. Although I still don’t get it done every day, I manage most nights, and Maisy seems to enjoy it. If it starts to get late, she’ll whine and nudge at the travel crate, as though to remind me we haven’t done it yet. I must admit, this helps motivate me.

Last night, we did Day 5 for the first time. There is a definite pattern in our work- the first time we start a new “day,” she’s worried and a bit anxious. She won’t remain lying down, and she gets a bit frantic when she takes treats. However, I’ve noticed that we’ve needed to spend fewer sessions on each day before she relaxes for the duration of the exercise. While we had to spend seven sessions on Day 2, we did five sessions for Day 3, and only four sessions for Day 4. (We only needed to do Day 1 once, but that doesn’t really count as we’ve done that one a lot here and there over the past year.)

I repeat each day until Maisy seems calm, relaxed, and even a little bored. For Maisy, I’m looking for the following things: to remain lying down for the duration of the exercise, to roll over on to a hip instead of being in an “alert” down, to periodically rest her chin on the floor, to have sleepy or droopy eyes, to quit making eye contact with me, and to take the treats with a soft or “lazy” mouth. I find the eye contact to be an important indicator, as it lets me know that Maisy is switching from “working” mode to relaxation. Similarly, the way she takes treats tells me a lot; snatching the treats indicates higher levels of arousal.

Although I’m not sure yet, I think she’s beginning to figure out that even when the tasks change, she can still relax. It used to be that during the first session of a new day, she would remain anxious for the whole session, but yesterday, she seemed to calmer by the end. For example, one of the tasks for Day 5 is to walk to an entrance and touch the doorknob, an action which is done three times. Maisy found this unsettling, and every time she heard me touch it, she would stand up on her hind legs and peer out the top of her crate. The first time this happened, after I returned, she remained standing until I finally cued her to lie down twenty seconds later. The last time, though, she offered a down shortly after I returned.

Crate Duration
Another thing we’re working on is lying calmly in her crate for longer durations without the distractions of the relaxation protocol. I started out with a duration of five minutes, giving her a treat every 30 seconds. We slowly stretched out the length of time between treats, and got up to five full minutes with a treat only at the end! I was pretty excited about this, because that’s a long time lie still for a dog like Maisy.

Just like the Relaxation Protocol, she’s been needing fewer repetitions of each stage before we can increase the difficulty. We spent four sessions with a treat every 30 seconds, and another four sessions with a treat every 45 seconds. After that, though, I was able to spend only two sessions on the intervals of 60 seconds, 90 seconds, and two minutes, and she only needed one session each for the intervals of three minutes, four minutes and five minutes!

Last night, I increased the duration from five minutes to ten minutes. Since I made the duration longer, I reduced the length of time she needs to wait for a treat from five minutes back down to two, but I should be able to work up to five again quite quickly. Ultimately, I’m working towards one hour of calm crate time with a treat every five minutes.

Poke!
“Poke” is my either awesome-or-crazy strategy to teach Maisy a new way to get my attention. I’m hoping she’ll learn to poke at me instead of lunging at another dog when she’s feeling stressed. It’s going well. I started out by transferring a hand target to my leg, then worked on it while I was sitting, standing and lying down. Once she was reliably poking my legs, I added the cue, and then started working in different rooms around the house. She’s poking on cue about 90% of the time, even when interspersed with other known cues like sit. Last night, we started working on poke outside. Although she was confused at first, she figured it out pretty quickly.

Reorienting
The last major thing we’ve been working on is reorienting. We’ve mostly worked on it while going through the fence gates in or out of our yard. The back gate is easier, and the reorienting is almost automatic there, although she’s a bit quicker going into the yard than when leaving it. The front gate is a bit harder because there was a bunny outside that gate one time a few months ago. Ever since that, she scans for the bunny every time we walk through. Still, she’s reorienting quicker every time, and last night she only looked for the bunny for three or four seconds before she turned back to me. I’m going to need to transfer it over to other locations soon (the car, the training center, etc.).


Overall, I’m very pleased with this focus on foundation work. Maisy is really doing a great job at learning to relax- no easy task! I’m hopeful that this is the piece we’ve been missing.

CU Seminar: Final Thoughts

Mostly relaxed in her crate at the seminar.
Photo by Robin Tinay Sallie.

I really enjoyed going to the Control Unleashed seminar. Seeing the demos in person and getting feedback on my handling skills was amazing, but perhaps the most profound lesson came in two short, simple statements. The first is simply a reminder:

Practice doesn’t make perfect… it makes permanent.
Every time a dog (human, whatever) does or encounters something new, that novel experience creates new pathways in the brain. (I’ve heard this referred to as “dendritic branching,” though I'm probably grossly simplifying the concept.) Initially, that pathway is faint, like a deer track in the woods, but each time that the dog does that behavior, the pathway gets stronger.

I think of the well-practiced behavior as an interstate: easy to get on, fast to get you where you’re going, but difficult to turn around if you discover you’re going the wrong way. And just like the roads the ancient Romans built thousands of years ago, these behaviors can become permanent. While that may be desirable for some behaviors, it is less than ideal when it comes to reactive ones.

The take-away message is obvious: Don’t let your dog practice behaviors you don’t like. Find ways to manage the situation, manipulate the environment, or distract your dog so that you avoid reactive outbursts. I really believe this is part of the problem I’m experiencing with Maisy: she’s just practiced lunging at other dogs so much that it’s the most obvious path for her to take when she’s feeling uncertain. I just hope that action isn’t yet permanently part of her world.

Of course, it isn’t always easy to prevent behaviors you don’t like, which brings us to the second thing:

Don’t be afraid of a high rate of reinforcement.
This advice was actually kind of ironic. Not a week before, I’d been complaining about how hard I have to work to prevent Maisy from reacting. As long as I kept my attention on her, and kept feeding her treats, I told my trainer, she’s fine. But that’s exhausting, and inevitably, I need to shift my attention elsewhere, so my efforts fail. I said that I wanted to be able to use fewer treats.

After the seminar, though, I don’t think that should be my goal. After all, a high rate of reinforcement can prevent a reaction. A high rate of reinforcement gives the dog something to do, and it gives them something to focus on. It keeps them on a path you like, and off the troublesome ones- not to mention the fact that it can prevent those pesky brain interstates.

Instead, the goal should be twofold. First, I need to get better at reading Maisy’s body language, and shifting my expectations based on what I see because there are legitimately times where Maisy can make good decisions. She can think through a situation and choose to do something I like, and I have no problem reinforcing those moments. But at other times, she’s too stressed to think, let alone make a good choice. Even if I think she should be able to handle it, I need to honor what she’s actually telling me. I shouldn’t delay a treat that could prevent a reaction just because I think she should be able to handle the situation.

I also need to help her build new roads. I’ve begun doing this in two ways. I’m helping her learn to relax through the relaxation protocol, and I’m helping her learn new communication strategies through the either-brilliant-or-idiotic “poke” cue. Both of these things will hopefully build new paths that are easily accessible, and maybe someday even more accessible than the current ones.


It’s funny how hearing the same old thing in new words can make all the difference. Neither of these ideas are ground-shakingly new- I’ve heard them both before- but the way Alexa phrased them really helped me understand them better. Or maybe I was just ready to hear them now. Either way, I have to believe that in the end, we’ll be a better team as a result of our time with Alexa.

Training Tuesday: The “Good Lord Why Did I Decide to Do This?” Edition

Maisy and Malcolm doing the relaxation protocol.

It has been two weeks since I instituted the “no more trials until I finish the relaxation protocol” rule, and as predicted, I’m hating myself already. (Actually, I started hating myself a week ago, but whatever.) Thankfully, I posted it quite publicly, and enough of my real life friends read this that I know I won’t be able to gracefully back out. This is good, because holy cow, this crap is boring. BORING.

It’s also working, thank god, because I don’t think I could sustain the motivation needed to get through this tedium if I wasn’t seeing glimmers of progress.

First and foremost, let it be known that the relaxation protocol, while challenging for the dog under any circumstance, is even more difficult when there are cats involved. Obnoxious, nosy, food-obsessed, den-loving, clicker-trained cats. In other words: they are constantly right there when the clicker, treats and/or crate comes out. Unfortunately, Maisy has a bit of a problem with resource guarding when it comes to the cats. This, combined with the fact that Maisy has self-appointed herself as the resident kitty cop, means that it can be very, very difficult to convince her to relax when they’re around. Which they are. Constantly.

While they slow the process down, their presence is a huge help. For one thing, they make an excellent distraction, though not as intense as what we might encounter at a trial. Beyond that, Maisy has a long history of rushing the cats and bowling them over, so when she is able to control those impulses around the kitties, I know we’re on the right track.

In fact, it was just one of those moments last week that helped me know that she’s making progress. During one session, one of the kitties did something that Maisy has decided is naughty, something that she would usually discipline them for. Her entire body tensed up, and she raised herself just slightly from the ground. But then she stopped herself, evidently thought about it, and quickly lowered herself back down. She wasn’t relaxed, exactly, but neither was she reacting mindlessly!

I’ll admit, I’ve been a bit lazy with it all. I just can’t bring myself to do it every day. We’ve done it 9 times over the last 14 days. It’s not perfect, but that’s not embarrassing, either. We advanced to day three in the relaxation protocol on our last session, although that session was a little rough. If the next one is as bad (she had a hard time staying in a down, although a sit isn’t really the end of the world), we’ll drop back down to day two for a bit. I’m also working on duration in the crate, and she’s currently managing quite well with a treat once every 60 seconds over the course of five minutes.

I could probably push her further faster, but I want to build this foundation strongly and carefully. As a result, I’m spending several sessions on each step, waiting until I see her relaxed before I move on. Some of the things I’m looking for includes being rolled on to one hip, rather than in a sphinx down, resting her chin on the ground, and taking treats softly instead of grabbing them roughly.

For her part, Maisy is loving this. She’s inside the crate before I can even get it fully set up. When I call her out, she jumps back in before I can break it down again. And every night, at about the time we do the protocol, she starts to whine and poke at the folded-up crate with her nose, all while looking at me hopefully.

Speaking of poking things with her nose, I think that my possibly hare-brained scheme, is working. It was quite easy to shape her to touch my leg, although she tends to think the proper location is in the left kneecap. That’s fine, really, and maybe even better than doing it anywhere else. After all, this way she’ll have to turn away from whatever’s bugging her in order to poke me there. It was a bit more work to convince her that she could poke me when I’m standing, too, but she figured that out.

Right now I’m in the process of assigning a verbal cue to the behavior. She’s got it about half the time, and once it’s a bit more solid, I’ll start cuing that behavior when she’s whining to get my attention. On one occasion, she did use the nose poke to communicate that she wanted something from me (a rawhide), so I think this could work. I must admit, I’m really excited about the possibility of reducing some of her whininess, although I’m aware that the poking could become even more annoying. I hope I don’t regret this!

Anyway, overall I’m very pleased with the progress she’s making. It’s slow, but I’m hoping that as she understands it better, we’ll be able to pick up the back a bit. I hope so, anyway, because at our current rate of progress, this will take six months otherwise! Although that sounds like forever, I know that the time investment will be worth it. I’ll keep you guys updated, of course!

CU Seminar: Crate Time

Photo by Robin Sallie.

In my last entry, I laid out a plan for teaching Maisy how to get my attention. In the comments, Laura (rightly so) questioned the wisdom of this. Do I really want to teach Maisy to be pushy? Wouldn’t it be better to teach her impulse control? I know this sounds contradictory, but the answer to both questions is yes.

See, the truth is, Maisy already has a “demand behavior.” She’s barking, growling and lunging at other dogs in an effort to get my attention. And let’s face it: it works. No matter how hard I try, I can’t completely ignore it. It’s also embarrassing, and if she’s going to persist in being obnoxiously pushy, she might as well do it in a quieter, more socially acceptable way.

Beyond that, though, I really believe that she needs a way to alert me to her needs. We already have one way in the Look at That game, which Maisy only initiates when she’s feeling anxious about something, but she needs something she can do when I’m not looking at her. While teaching her a demand behavior may backfire (and knowing this dog, it’s quite possible!), I think there is enough potential value that it’s worth the risk.

Still, I don’t exactly want a pushy dog, either. And I certainly don’t want her to be dependent on me for all her needs. My ultimate goal is to help her become confident enough to relax in the face of stress without any intervention on my behalf. Which leads me to the second (and probably more important) thing I got out of the CU seminar: creating a plan to help Maisy learn how to relax.

I already knew this was important- after all, part of the problems we’ve had at trials is waiting for our turn. I really wanted Maisy to have a safe space where she could relax, but I didn’t know how to create this for her. While a crate seemed like the ideal choice, Maisy often became reluctant to go near it after a few hours at a trial site. I experimented with using her mat as a safe space instead, but this was problematic, too. Without the solid barriers that a crate can offer, the visual stimulation became too much for her, and she often seemed more stressed by the end of the day than when she’d been in the crate.

I knew that I needed to build enough value for her crate that she’d happily hang out in there, so we began playing Crate Games. As a result, Maisy is comfortable in her crate at home, but we’ve still struggled with being calm in her crate in other places. Luckily, the seminar provided exactly the opportunity we needed: 10 hours in a new, yet relatively low-stress, environment so we could practice.

At first, Maisy seemed uncomfortable. She shifted positions a lot, peeked out the top, and just generally had difficulty relaxing. I tossed a treat in her crate every 20-30 seconds or so, and dropped in a handful of treats every time she lay down. Soon, she was lying there quietly, rolled on to one hip with her chin on the ground, and I was able to gradually lengthen the time up to two minutes between treats.

The seminar provided the jumpstart we needed, because by the end of the weekend, I had a crate junkie. More importantly, it helped me turn my goal of “help Maisy be more comfortable in her crate” into a fully formed plan. Here’s what it looks like:

First and foremost, do the Relaxation Protocol from start to finish. Although Maisy and I have played with it from time to time, we’ve never completed all fifteen days, mostly because it’s mind-numbingly boring. Still, Alexa encouraged all of us seminar attendees to do it with our dogs. I’m modifying it slightly; we’ll do it lying instead of sitting, and in her crate instead of on a mat.

Next, we need to continue to build duration. I’ve created a schedule which starts with Maisy lying quietly in her crate for a duration of five minutes, receiving a treat every 30 seconds, and ending 42 steps later with a duration of an hour, with treats every five minutes. I’ll repeat each step with her until she is relaxed before moving on to the next step. Once we’ve completed the entire process, we’ll take it on the road, first at training class, then to a local obedience club, and finally, as the ultimate test, we’ll go to run-throughs or trials that allow unentered dogs on site.

Finally, I’ll incorporate impulse control and off-switch games with her crate. I’ll talk more about how to do this in the future- Alexa spent a fair amount of time on both, and I think it’s important enough information to dedicate an entire post to the subject- but suffice it to say, the entire program ought to teach Maisy how to relax in her crate even when she’s aroused or distracted.

Since all of these things are incredibly important, but not terribly exciting to do, I’ve decided that I’m going to retire Maisy from competition until we've done this. Returning to trialing is dependent upon both completing the entire relaxation protocol, and the real world test of laying quietly in her crate in a new environment for an entire hour, with treats no more often than once every five minutes.

I know that this is going to be boring, and you all can expect a whiny post from me in a week or two about how this is the dumbest idea I’ve ever had. When that happens, remind me that the result is going to be awesome, okay? Because I really think that this is one of the biggest things missing in Maisy’s foundation. Boring or not, I really believe this is the change we’ve needed, and I’m excited to see it.

2010 Goals: First Quarter Update!

So, it’s been three months since I set my 2010 dog training goals, and I thought it would be nice to evaluate our progress so far. Overall, there’s been some great successes, some moderate progress, and a few places where I’ve dropped the ball entirely.

Goal: Complete the relaxation protocol.
Progress: We did the relaxation protocol daily for several weeks, getting to the point where I was ready to progress to the “second day” of the protocol… but then petered out.
Looking Forward: Doing the relaxation protocol is a bit boring, especially to do it every day. This quarter I’ll try to work on it once or twice a week.

Goal: Increase Maisy’s physical exercise.
Progress: I feel like we made a ton of progress here! Unfortunately, the numbers disagree: I walked Maisy 47 out of 90 days, which is a success rate of only 52%. Still, this does include the month of January, when we had sub-zero temperatures for the first two weeks, as well as the two weeks at the beginning of March when I had pneumonia.
Looking Forward: I am anticipating even more progress next quarter. The thing that really surprises me here is how much I love walking Maisy. I actually tried to walk her while I had pneumonia because I missed it so much.

Goal: Develop novice obedience stays.
Progress: None. Haven’t even tried. Oops!
Looking Forward: I would like to spend some of my Five Times Challenge time on this goal.

Goal: Improve heeling so that we can complete a novice-level heeling pattern.
Progress: I’ve really built a lot of attention into her heeling. I’m getting excellent eye contact through the first several steps of heeling, and she often offers a nice, attentive heel during the off-leash portion of our walks.
Looking Forward: I’m hoping to continue to build these skills. First, I need to work on improving duration. Then, I want to work on reducing food treats. Finally, I’ll need to drop the verbal encouragement, as well. That’s three sub-goals, and I have three quarters of the year left. Neat!

Goal: From heel position, hit the proper front position on the first try.
Progress: Some progress seen. She’s usually getting heel position on the first or second try, but not yet from heel position.
Looking Forward: I’d like to spend some of my Five Times Challenge time on this goal, too.

Goal: Develop jumping skills for a recall over high and directed jumping.
Progress: I was able to send her over a jump from heel position during a trial in February, and one of those times, we were six feet away- the required distance to avoid taking a 3 point deduction!
Looking Forward: I learned at the Suzanne Clothier seminar that due to Maisy’s structure, jumping will probably never be her strong suit. We’ll continue to work on it in small pieces, and I think a jump or two will be doable for her.

Goal: Reduce ring nerves.
Progress: I did get through a trial without using stomach medications, which was a huge improvement! I did this by using Rescue Remedy. Unfortunately, I was so nervous that the judge actually took me aside and had me smell an essential oil to help me relax a little. Oops.
Looking Forward: I have an appointment at the end of April to get hypnotized to help deal with my ring stress. Hopefully it helps, but if not, I suspect I’ll talk with the therapist about some visualization and other exercises to incorporate.

Goal: Complete ARCH.
Progress: Maisy completed her Level 2 title in February, which was the first step towards the ARCH.
Looking Forward: She already has enough Level 1 points, so we just need 40 Level 2 points and 5 QQs. I don’t think we’ll actually achieve all that this year unless we travel, and that, of course, is going to be dependent on whether or not I can get my ring nerves under control.

Goal: Get one leg towards a CD (any venue).
Progress: None officially, but we are working on the skills necessary (heeling, etc.).
Looking Forward: I’ll probably try St. Hubert’s CDSP program first. The problem with that is that the only local trials are held in conjunction with APDT rally… and that might be too much for one day since I want to work on her QQs then.

A Little More Orthodox

Last week, I wrote an entry detailing my new approach to working with Maisy’s reactivity. Unsurprisingly, people have reacted with confusion, mostly because this is a rather unorthodox plan, and not at all what is normally recommended. Heck, if someone came to me and asked me how they should work with their reactive dog, I wouldn’t be pulling up that entry! Instead, I’d pull up this one, because today, I’d like to talk about the more usual methods.

Be aware that this entry is just an overview. If you have a reactive dog and you’re just starting out, you really want to find a good positive reinforcement trainer. There is so much at play with reactivity that it’s just easier and safer to have a second set of eyes looking at what’s going on.

Still, there are four main things that basically every good trainer will help you do:
1. Determine the dog’s triggers and thresholds
2. Counter-condition the emotional response
3. Help your dog develop impulse control
4. Teach alternate behaviors

I’ve written about thresholds before, but it needs to be repeated: it is absolutely critical that you do your best to stay under threshold when you’re working with a reactive dog. A dog that is in the throes of a full-out, overly-emotional response is not going to be in a place where he can really work through his issues.

So, the first step in working with a reactive dog is to figure out what causes the dog’s reactive response, and the proximity to the trigger in which the dog reacts. For example, one of the first triggers I identified for Maisy was bicycles going by, but only if they were closer than about 25 feet. Over time, I’ve decreased that threshold to about 6-8 feet, which is far more manageable.

In order to reduce the threshold, you need to start doing counter-conditioning. This addresses the emotional component to your dog’s reactivity. Counter-conditioning is pretty easy, but it takes patience. It does not happen overnight- I’ve spent over a year doing this with Maisy. Here’s how you do it: take your dog close enough to the trigger so that he notices it, but not so close that he loses it. Then feed a constant stream of treats until the trigger leaves. What this does is teach your dog that Big Black Dogs (another of Maisy’s triggers) aren’t scary. Instead, they are a reliable predictor that good things (treats) are going to happen! Therefore, Big Black Dogs become a Really Good Thing, not something to lunge and growl at.

Another component to reactivity is a lack of impulse control. I think this is the part that I’ve actually spent the most time working on with Maisy. Helping her learn that she can control her behavior has really helped boost her confidence and help her relax, which reduces the fear that drives her reactivity.

There are a lot of things you can do to develop impulse control, and again, a good trainer can help you figure out which ones will be best for you and your dog. One of my favorite impulse control games is doggie zen, which teaches the dog that the get what they want, they need to exercise self-control and look to you instead. Another impulse control activity that I really like is the Relaxation Protocol. As the name implies, it is more about relaxation than controlling impulses, but it does help.

Finally, you need to add in some alternate behaviors, something the dog can do instead of lunging and barking. Alternate behaviors (also called incompatible behaviors or default behaviors) should be heavily rewarded when offered. Maisy has a few things she does instead of behaving reactively. The two she does most are lying down (especially with her chin on the ground), and looking at the trigger and then immediately looking at me. Alternate behaviors are helpful because they teach the dog a better behavior, and it helps remind the handler to reinforce good behavior.

There’s a great program out there that combines all of these things: Control Unleashed. It is amazing! It has games for impulse control, for dealing with triggers, and for teaching alternate behaviors. It also helps build your relationship with your dog and creates focus in a distractible dog. All dogs can benefit from Control Unleashed, but anyone who owns a reactive dog absolutely must read this book and incorporate the techniques, and if possible, join a class based on the book.

So, given all of this, how did I arrive at my unorthodox training plan? Well, I’ve worked all of the steps above, and I’ve worked them hard, with regular classes, training plans, and many hours on my own. And it’s worked. My counter-conditioning has been very effective. Her “reactive behavior” isn’t really reactivity any more. Reactivity is primarily fueled by emotions and a lack of impulse control, but that’s not what’s going on with her anymore. Her body language is much more loose and relaxed. It’s not about impulse control either; when I give her a job to do (i.e., a chance to earn reinforcements), she very rarely displays reactive behavior.

It’s also important to note that I’m still following all of my advice. I’m still counter conditioning triggers, I’m still working on impulse control exercises, and I’m still rewarding alternate behaviors (in fact, I’m increasing the amount of treats she gets for alternate behaviors). The only thing that has changed is my response to her behaviors that look like reactivity (i.e., lunging and barking). Like I discussed in my last entry, she figured out that she can make me give her a treat by performing the behavior formerly known as reactivity. So, I’m not doing it anymore on the theory that she’ll quit doing the behavior if it doesn’t pay.

Instead, I’m completely ignoring the outburst. If I feel like she is truly over threshold, I will increase distance between her and the trigger, and then counter-condition by rewarding an appropriate behavior, but I’m not making a big deal about it like I used to. If she’s obviously relaxed- for example, if she has “helicopter tail” (my term for a big, loose tail wag that makes complete circles and engages her entire body), or if the bark is a “play bark” (identifiable by pitch), I am completely ignoring her for 15-30 seconds, and then asking her for something (usually asking her to get into heel position and do pivots, although I’m trying to randomize that as well so it doesn’t create another component to her behavior chain).

It’s definitely working, and I’m really excited to see some of the changes in her. It’s still exhausting at times- we were both worn out after class last night- but I’m seeing a huge difference in her. I can’t wait to share her progress with you.